Module SGIA3481: DIRTY WAR: CONFLICT IN AN URBANISING WORLD

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3481: DIRTY WAR: CONFLICT IN AN URBANISING WORLD

Prerequisites

• â—¦None.

Corequisites

• â—¦None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• â—¦None.

Aims

• The module provides a critical understanding of counter-insurgency in an urbanising world.
• There is nothing new about studying insurgency or the responses to it, yet the nature, purpose and consequences of counter-insurgency remain intellectually challenging and empirically problematic. This module aims to improve understanding of the concepts and modalities underpinning international orthodoxy on the topic.
• This module addresses two fundamental questions:
• What are the key political, ethical and doctrinal challenges, rationales and trends associated with conflict and, specifically, counter-insurgency in urban areas?
• What are the enduring fundamentals of counter-insurgency?
• The module’s primary objectives are to identify the assumptions, contingencies and trends associated with contemporary explanations of counter-insurgency, and to analyse the ways in which state and non-state actors respond to asymmetric threats and challenges more generally. These issues will be explored through a series of thematic case studies and case instances based on significant and influential operations by conventional security forces in cities such as Algiers, Baghdad, Grozny, Maidugurie and Mogadishu.

Content

• An indicative list of topics includes:
• Conflict in an urbanising world
• Academic and doctrinal perspectives
• Ethical issues: Torture in Algiers and Baghdad
• Ghetto security: Baghdad
• Political economy of internal policing: Grozny
• Entrepreneurial security operations: Mogadishu
• Radicalisation: Nigerian-style COIN
• How militaries learn: Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Examples of success: Israel? Sri Lanka? Syria?
• Trends in contemporary insecurity

Learning Outcomes

• On successfully completing the module, students should have an understanding of the key conceptual and operational problems counter-insurgency presents, including its definition, its logic, and the ethical problems associated with it.
• Major themes in counter-insurgency are illustrated by reference to a number of paradigmatic operations, which aid understanding of the dynamics at work.

• The module combines theoretical and empirical materials and approaches that encourage students to develop a critical understanding of a key aspect of contemporary conflict.
• On successfully completing the module, students should understand what counter-insurgency is, the operational challenges it presents to conventional forces, and the effects it has in different political and social environments.

• The module will provide opportunities for students to:
• Improve their presentational skills by requiring all course members to introduce tutorials and lead discussions
• Improve their analytic skills by examining, evaluating and explaining key debates in the literature
• Critically assess relevant resources from the Internet, which for this subject is especially rich.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• enter text as appropriate for the module

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Oral presentations with continuing feedback in tutorial. Formative essay of 1,500 words

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University